Monday night’s Bowl Championship Series title game left many college football fans wondering what can be done to ensure a more competitive championship game in the future.
In order for the two best teams to compete for the national championship, the BCS must re-examine its ranking system and transform its current bowl games into a four-team playoff series.
The BCS’s problems start with their ranking system, which is inherently problematic and often results in qualified teams being snubbed during bowl game selection.
The current system uses three components to determine the top two teams: the USA Today Coaches Poll , the Harris Interactive College Football Poll and a series of computer polls.
The computer polls are the least defective method, drawing on concrete statistics to determine teams’ relative strength. In recent years, however, these polls have been increasingly marginalized.
Fifty-nine college football coaches contribute to the Coaches Poll, which ranks teams based on each coach’s opinion of who is best. In theory, the tremendous collective knowledge these coaches possess should result in the most accurate ranking system.
But for most college football coaches, their first responsibility is the success of their own team. The reality, therefore, is that many coaches try to game the system, assigning a high rank to their own teams and disproportionately low ranks to their closest competitors.
Such a situation arose this year when both Alabama and Stanford’s coaches ranked Oklahoma State behind Stanford, giving their respective teams a greater chance of appearing in the national championship.
The problems with the last poll, the Harris Poll, also stem from its voters, thanks to the vague criteria used to select them. Included in their ranks are a hodgepodge of former players, administrators and members of the media.
